Over Sand Permit for Nauset Beach on Cape Cod. Non-resident Price almost doubled for 2022.

[Pegleg]

Nauset Beach on Cape Cod is one of the nicest beaches on the Cape for Over Sand use, aka driving on the beach. I have a non-resident permit for 2021 which was $216. They have just announced that for the 2022 season the price will be increased to $386. That is freaking crazy and nothing but a money grab.

They limit the number of vehicles on the beach to 180. You need to get there early before they open and wait in line or you won't get on the beach. To the best of my knowledge they sell around 3000 permits a year.

The beach is closed for extended periods of time due to the mating and hatching season for endangered beach birds, specifically the Piping Plovers. This year they closed on Wed June 2 and will not reopen until July 18. That is a pretty good amount of time you can't use the permit. After they reopen in July there will be a period of a few weeks where travel through/across sand dunes with grass will be limited to marked trails and someone has to walk in front of your vehicle to make sure you don't run over any nests or baby birds.

I have used the permit 3 days this year before the closure in June. I am planning to use it for a weekend in July and weekend in September after Labor Day. We're talking about maybe 8 days or so. At $216 I can deal with the price but for $386 it is nothing but a money grab.

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[Archeonomy]

So don't buy one.

 

[Zukoda]

Came here to say this...

 

[Will]

Hate to say it this way, but be thankful you can still drive there at all. At least it is still open to the public in limited fashion and I would assume they are trying to manage it responsibly so that it can stay a beautiful place to drive on the beach.

In North Carolina the forest service was pressured to close Tellico, one of the best OHV trail systems in the country, mainly because they did not manage the land use correctly.

I don’t know anything about the spot you mentioned, but, if it’s special to you, I would recommend getting involved and learning how the fees are allocated. I hope you are able to enjoy it for many years.

 

[Pegleg]

In 1998, the first year I bought a sticker, I paid $110. In 2021 I paid $216. 2022 is $386. I know inflation is bad under Biden but not that bad.

I honestly don't know how they decide on the fees. There are 4 beaches on Cape Cod you can drive on. Each one is run by the local town and requires a sticker. You'll need all 4 stickers if you want to go on all of them. Sticker prices run from $75 to $216 for 2021. The two largest beaches are Nauset beach which is about 7 miles to the farthest point and Race Beach which is about 8 miles to the farthest point. The other two beaches are significantly smaller and I really don't know much about them.

My point was it just seems strange for such a huge increase in price when the history of price increases over the past 20 years does not support such a large increase. In addition unless you buy a non-resident beach parking permit at $250 a season you get to pay $24 parking fee each time in addition to the sticker price.

I would get involved more in understanding the fess and process except I live 2 hours away.

 

[Dkretden]

In 1998, the first year I bought a sticker, I paid $110. In 2021 I paid $216. 2022 is $386. I know inflation is bad under Biden but not that bad.

My point was it just seems strange for such a huge increase in price when the history of price increases over the past 20 years does not support such a large increase.

I’m not really understanding your post. All municipalities have continuous budget pressures and they look to raise money to cover municipal expenses. This municipality has increased a user fee (only users pay it) by $276 in 24 years. Why is this surprising?

 

[LanceMagnum]

Pegleg, FWIW I had a similar reaction.

I used to think there was one town on the cape where OSV access was just not worth it - Dennis. They are down to a single small area for OSV's, Crowes Pasture, and they are at $300.

Nauset is now the most expensive beach at close to $400, and as you know they don't sell week or day passes.

Naively I assumed these were true user fees designed to cover the actual expense of operating OSV access (gate house and attendant, air station, ranger or two to cruise up and down the beach - most of those for part of the year), but I suspect this almost doubling of fees is beyond that and will go for non-OSV projects.

I looked for more info in the Orleans town meeting minutes where they approved these new fees but did not find much, maybe I'll dig into the budget and see what it costs to run the OSV access.

If they sell the normal number of stickers at the new price it's like 1M dollars.

Now I'm a free market kind of guy so I'll suck it up to go to my favorite cape beach but even with the inefficiency and misaligned incentives of government this seems a bit outrageous.

 

[LanceMagnum]

Pretty sure they are gouging the OSV set, especially non-residents:

I re-read the town meeting warrant and my armchair analysis is that the goal is to have all beach operations be supported by fees (the budget is like 2.3M this year), and none by resident taxes. This includes the 'general' expenses incurred by the beach department, so as an example the cost of the accounting staff, when they work on 'beach stuff', will now come from beach fees and not other tax revenues. That's a fine goal for Orleans but I think this is being paid for disproportionally by OSV users.

We've seen this a thousand times before in Massachusetts: raising taxes in the name of something you like (roads and bridges!) when in actuality user fees (gas taxes, excise, etc.) already more than cover the costs and they are raiding the account for pet projects (e.g. propping up ridiculously costly and inflexible rail transportation, or worse)

If someone has actual knowledge of the relative costs of OSV expenses vs. other beach dept. expenses I'd love to hear about it.

https://www.town.orleans.ma.us/sites/g/files/vyhlif3631/f/uploads/atm-stm-election_4.9.21_final.pdf

 

[Pegleg]

I’m not really understanding your post. All municipalities have continuous budget pressures and they look to raise money to cover municipal expenses. This municipality has increased a user fee (only users pay it) by $276 in 24 years. Why is this surprising?

My issue is not necessarily with the increase but the extreme high percentage of increase in a single year. As others have stated based on town documents it seems they want to shift all expenses to non-residents.

 

[Pegleg]

I re-read the town meeting warrant and my armchair analysis is that the goal is to have all beach operations be supported by fees (the budget is like 2.3M this year), and none by resident taxes. This includes the 'general' expenses incurred by the beach department, so as an example the cost of the accounting staff, when they work on 'beach stuff', will now come from beach fees and not other tax revenues. That's a fine goal for Orleans but I think this is being paid for disproportionally by OSV users.

I guess if I lived in Orleans I would appreciate this move assuming my taxes went down but you and I know that isn't going to happen. With the closures and everything else it looks like I will only be using the pass for 2 days in season this year. Most of my usage has been May and then September and October. Looks like an out of season sticker may be in order for next year.

We've seen this a thousand times before in Massachusetts: raising taxes in the name of something you like (roads and bridges!) when in actuality user fees (gas taxes, excise, etc.) already more than cover the costs and they are raiding the account for pet projects (e.g. propping up ridiculously costly and inflexible rail transportation, or worse)

Tell me about it. That is why my wife and I are looking to buy property up the lakes region of NH. Maybe you can answer why I am still paying tolls on the MA Pike

 

[Pegleg]

Nauset is now the most expensive beach at close to $400, and as you know they don't sell week or day passes.

Nauset has been the most expensive for a while. Race's was second at $175 for 2021.

A couple of shots from Memorial Day of this year.

 

[Pinion]

I was in this position when I lived in Framingham. I drove out to Race Point, or where ever they do the inspections before issuing the permit. It was nerve wracking, because of the time it takes to drive it there, and they can fail you for any reason they want.

I'm glad I live at the beach now, so I can just walk over to it or row out to my boat.

The mooring fees for my town went up this year, and I have no idea why.

 

[Dgr401]

Being my cynical self, If they make it expensive enough and not enough money is generated then the best thing in their mind might be to just shut it down. Perhaps the intended goal. Just my .02. They close the beach to everyone for 1 bird nest already.

 

[beaups]

Looks like a basic supply/demand imbalance to me. If they sell so many permits that you have to camp out to maybe be lucky enough to use it, then they are selling them for too little. They should raise it to the point that only enough buyers remain and those buyers can reliably use what they bought. I would think they fully expect to reduce the amounts of permits they sell and that is probably their goal.

FWIW this doesn’t sound like inflation or liberal BS, more like capitalism and good business IMO.

 

[Gadgettr1]

Nauset Beach on Cape Cod is one of the nicest beaches on the Cape for Over Sand use, aka driving on the beach. I have a non-resident permit for 2021 which was $216. They have just announced that for the 2022 season the price will be increased to $386. That is freaking crazy and nothing but a money grab.

They limit the number of vehicles on the beach to 180. You need to get there early before they open and wait in line or you won't get on the beach. To the best of my knowledge they sell around 3000 permits a year.

The beach is closed for extended periods of time due to the mating and hatching season for endangered beach birds, specifically the Piping Plovers. This year they closed on Wed June 2 and will not reopen until July 18. That is a pretty good amount of time you can't use the permit. After they reopen in July there will be a period of a few weeks where travel through/across sand dunes with grass will be limited to marked trails and someone has to walk in front of your vehicle to make sure you don't run over any nests or baby birds.

I have used the permit 3 days this year before the closure in June. I am planning to use it for a weekend in July and weekend in September after Labor Day. We're talking about maybe 8 days or so. At $216 I can deal with the price but for $386 it is nothing but a money grab.

That increase is just NUTS! Nauset and Race Point just isn't worth it for me because of the drive. I can justify Sandy Neck because it's quite a bit closer for me. But if those rates rise at the same rate as Nauset I'll be looking at heading to RI to drive on the beach and hang out there instead.

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